Hailey’s Blog

One of my friends, Sharon, is keeping it real on her blog about her non-diet weight loss journey.  She’s such an inspiration, so I decided to pick back up on the blog and do as she is – keep it real, and keep myself accountable.  I’m going to try to keep up with my posts on a weekly basis – but as history has shown, I pretty much suck at posting regularly, so we’ll see… 

I started really working to lose weight after the first of the year.  On 1/1/12, my super awesome boyfriend became my super awesome fiancee!!  Since we started dating, I put on the 20 pounds that I had worked so hard to lose the year before we met.  Stupid “new relationship” weight…  Well, we set the date (May 19), I found my dress, and now I have to FIT into my dress – and not just fit in it, I want to FEEL GOOD in it! 

On 1/9, I started the Advocare 24 Day Challenge.   I’ll be honest, I didn’t buy the whole bundle.  I am an AdvoCare distributor and already had most of the products included in the bundle, so I just filled in with what I needed.  The challenge sets some pretty strict dietary guidelines, and after thinking about it and talking with C, I decided that yes, those guidelines would probably jumpstart my weight-loss…but were they a lifestyle change or just a 24 day change?  I want a lifestyle change, so here’s what I’m doing:

I’m eating healthy 90% of the time.  I know myself – if I try to NEVER eat a piece of pizza or a cookie, I’ll end up sitting down with an entire pizza or a box of Girl Scout cookies.  It’s not realistic to cut out an entire food group – so why set myself up for failure??  Every Friday C and I have pizza night at the pizza place around the corner – this past Friday we went and I had a beer (yes, just one), and a personal pizza that I only ate about 1/4 of.  In the past I would have eaten the whole thing.  And I would have had multiple drinks.  I’m working hard on the “quantity” of what I’m eating, not just the quality. 

I’m working out.  I have totally gotten out of the habit of working out (hell, let’s be honest – since college and Strutters, I haven’t truly worked out).  Right now, it’s just walking or the Biggest Loser for Kinect.  On May 30, I’m starting to work out 3 times a week with my friend Marie, who is a trainer.  I’m ready to get my ass kicked back into shape!

I’m weighing in on Biggest Loser on Thursdays, so I’ll try to post my results either on Thursday nights or on Fridays, as well as the good, bad, and ugly of the week’s food and exercise happenings. 

Since 1/9/12 I am down 5.8 lbs.  On Thursdays I’ll add to this number (hopefully!) – seeing the scale go up is super discouraging, so I’m hoping to see that number go up and my measurements go down!  Here’s to my ass shrinking in 2012!

And, for the shameless self-promotion.  If you’re interested in any of the AdvoCare products, or have questions about them, let me know!  I am totally hooked on the Spark - and so far, I’m loving the Max-E.  My energy levels have totally improved and that makes me one happy girl!  I haven’t tried a ton of the products yet, as I’m just starting out, but have a great friend who is also a distributor and is 110% willing to answer any questions that I can’t!

Well, anyone that knows me knows that I don’t particularily care for working out. So, last week was good…this week…ehh. This weekend we were at the BHC BBQ Cookoff, so between the BBQ and Crown, probably not the best calorie-wise.

Anyway, we got home that night and at least played kinect, so there was some sort of workout accomplished. This week at work I haven’t been walking, but I have done some situps, planks, and dips. Better than nothing, I suppose.

I am down 4 pounds so far…hopefully it’ll keep going at that pace…

So, it’s been almost a year since I’ve blogged. I’ve been slammed with school, work, boyfriend…you know, all that good stuff! Well, I am on a 4 month break until Fall classes start, so I figure that now’s as good a time as any to get back to blogging.

I’ve recently started working out again (as in, two days ago), so I am going to attempt to log my workouts on here to keep myself accountable. Monday, I walked/jogged here at work; yesterday I did some crunches up here; and today I did more walking/jogging. 1.09 miles to be exact. My route is below:

Other than that, not much has been going on. Life is great and I’m super happy with where I am (other than the whole working out / losing weight thing). Well, and honestly, I’m happy about that now, too…happy that I’m actually DOING something!

Hope everyone is well…and feel free to slap my hand if you see me reaching for that thing of Starbucks ice cream! Lol!

*Hugs*

I think the easiest way to do a weekend re-cap is in pictures – so hope you enjoy!

I told dad not to be cheesy, so I got this….and that led to the next shot…and we weren’t even drunk yet!

The next few are from Friday night – dancin’ w/ Michael and then after party – Hicks and BoDean

Saturday we got up after about 3 hours of sleep and were in the parade:

Then were back at 11th Street for Jake!  

Me & my momma, Me & SAM!, Me dancin’ with Deb, Me & Jen, Dancin’ w/ Michael, Shot Time, & SOMETHING was funny!

The guys: Me & Rick, Me & Jenkins, Jake, Snuffy & Rockstar

Sunday was EPIC at Arkey Blue’s

The Crowd, Me & Terry, Me & My Momma again

Then back to 11th Street….

Helen and Me, The Bar, Snuffy and Me

We had a fabulous time, but Memorial Day weekend is not just a weekend of going out – it’s a time to remember the sacrifices our troops pay for our freedom.  RIP Ssg. Pugh.  Love you, miss you, and think about you every day!  My #1 hero forever! 

Definitely missing the trip when I look at pics and articles!!

http://aglifesciences.tamu.edu/news/5-2010-asiantrip.php

AND…

We made one of the “featured banners” on the COALS (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) homepage

http://aglifesciences.tamu.edu/

I’m getting an itch to go back….Who’s in??

*Hugs*

Here are some pics of the babies!

Sleeping babies

The babies love Vera just as much as I do!

Carrie got hot at my parents house!

Samantha and Carrie playing

Hangin’ out in their pen

*Hugs*

Ok, so I officially suck at blogging!  I just looked and it’s been almost 3 months since I’ve posted anything!  Things here have been going well, just crazy busy!  I’ve had a few weeks off from school, but in that time I’ve had 7 of the most adorable basset hound puppies taking up my energy.  The babies are now 7.5 weeks old and are ready for new homes – they’re AKC registered, so if you know of anyone looking for a puppy, send ‘em my way!

I start a minimester tomorrow in College Station.  It’s going to be a bit crazy driving back and forth from Austin to CS every day, but it’ll be worth it to knock 3 hours out in 9 days!  I’m actually really excited to be on campus for a class finally!  I finish this class on the 28th, and then start another 10 week Homeland Security class on June 1.  Finish up with that August 11, then start the Fall semester on August 30 with 6 hours.  Yup, I’m killing myself here, but that’s ok…if I can pull this off, I’ll be able to apply for my Aggie ring in December and will be getting it in April!!!  WHOOP! 

Right now I’m just trying to keep my head above water and stare down the calendar to August 11 and a vacation SOMEWHERE in my short break…any suggestions?!?!    Hope everyone has been doing well…time for me to  read 4 chapters before my class tomorrow!

*Hugs*

And, more importantly for me…it’s snowing in Leander! Here are some pictures from today! Love it!

When I left for work around 7:40 this morning this is what it looked like:

Me at work around 10:30 am:

Coming into my neighborhood around 1:30 pm:

Front of my house:

My funky-shaped snowman!

Tegan’s footprints

Backyard:

Kaluah and Peppermint Schnapps…with hot Chocolate, of course!

Tegs really doesn’t know what she thinks about all this snow…she doesn’t like cold feet!

And now, it’s 4:10…and it’s STILL snowing! Loving today, cuddled up under my electric blanket, and writing a paper for school. Thank you work, for letting us off early!

*Hugs*

I’ve been meaning to get pictures posted from my FABULOUS trip to Asia – but haven’t. After I got home, I started classes two days later, and let me just say…this semester is going to kick my A.S.S. Seriously. Then, to top it off, I got sick. I went to the nurse practitioner TWICE last week, and all she told me was that it was allergies, and she gave me some prescription cough stuff. Well, I know this wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but…. I went to the Grimes Co. BBQ cookoff last weekend. BF was cooking, so I HAD to go be supportive, right?!? Well, stupid. I had fun…or as much fun as a sick person can have…and then woke up on Sunday with a HORRIBLE “crick in my neck.” Well, after this crick not getting better after 3 days (which means 3 days of NO sleep, b/c no matter what I did, I couldn’t make the pain stop…not even vicodin…) I drug myself up to Urgent Care last night. Verdict – severe ear infection – no crick in my neck. I now have a z-pack (which is what I TOLD the nurse last week that I needed), and hopefully it’ll get me back in tip-top shape very soon! Once that happens, I promise to do a trip update with pics and all! The worst part of this is that I’ve had SO many assignments for class that I’ve had to turn in knowing that they’re not my best work because I just haven’t even been able to process my readings Time to redeem myself as soon as I get back to feeling better!!!!

Hope everyone is having a great 2010 so far – can you believe it’s FEB?!?!

*Hugs*